Technical Documentation

Baloo is re-using Data and BI Services team technological stack re-purposed to suit the Contributor tracking needs. Have a look on the data flow diagram below to understand the inner workings.

Stack

Schema

Baloo deals with Contribution Data. Contribution Data are defined using the established Schema of the Community Building Team.

Adding a new system

Tracking contributions without adding a new systemSome contribution areas don't have contribution systems or their systems are not eligible for Baloo integration because they track a low volume of contributors (such as Creative, Legal and Policy). Check Ad-Hoc Baloo solution for an alternative way to track contributions in those areas

Several steps are needed in order to add a new system in Baloo. They can be broken down to two different sections. Porting historical data, and implementing live pushes

Adding Historical Data

Once a system is identified holding historical contribution data, the following should be done to import those to Baloo. Note that this should be an one off procedure given that live-pushes are also implemented in a system.

Identify *what* do you want to track in your system. Write down all possible contributions that are happening in your area.

Talk to your principal webdev or technical people, on how this info is stored in your database.

All data is in raw format till this pointIf any or both of the above is implemented for your system, you have raw data in our HBASE. Although this is available for crunching, you still need to establish your contribution area conversion points so we can start tracking active contributors

Tracking active contributors

Once one or both of the processes above are complete we now have raw contribution data about your area. Raw data is cool, but we need to start making sense out of them. For that reason we need to establish Conversion Points to understand the type of contributions and identify Active contributors.